Hbkrt steiis way



"UNITED sTATEs rrgmxr carros.

HENRY STEINW'AY, JR., OF XE\Y XORK. N. Y.

PIANOFORTE-ACTION.

Specicaton of Letters Patent No. 32,387, dated May 21, 1861.

T 0 all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, HENRY S'rmNwAY, Jr., of the city, county, and Stateof Xew York, have invented a new and useful Improvement inPianoforte-Actions; and l do hereby declare thatthe following is a full,clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings. forming part of this specification, in which-Figure 1, is a side view of an action with my improvement exhibiting` itat rest. Fig. 2, is a similar view exhibiting` it with the key depressedand illustrating the manner in which it assumes a condition forrepetition of the blow. Fig. 3, is a transverse section of the repeatinglever and its adjusting screw. Fig'. 1, is a back view of the upper partof the jack.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

This invention consists in a novel arrangement of a lever in connectionwith the jack for the purpose of effecting or assisting the return ofthe jack to its notch in the hammer-butt after the hammer has struck thestring, and thereby providing for a quick repetition of the blow.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A. is the key.

B. 's the hammer having its butt a, formed as in most of the actions inuse and having the underl side of its shank o', made tiat near the buttto enable it tohave a good bearing on the repeating lever C. whosearrangement constitutes the principal feature of my invention.

D. is the rest rail.

E. is the ack working on the pin c, which attaches it to a block F.secured'to the key; and (Z, is the spring for throwing it into the notchof the hammer-butt.

G. is the regulating screw, screwing through the front part of the restrail and acting upon an arm e, projecting forward from the lower part ofthe jack. f, is the back check applied to the key in the usual manner.

s, is the string. l, is a cushion arranged below the arm e, on the blockF. to prevent the jack being thrown too far out of its notch in thehammer-butt by a violent blow.

The repeating lever C. is pivotedat one end by a pin g, to an arm 7L,which is secured rigidly to the front of the jack E. not far below thepoint thereof. This lever passes through a slot fe', formed for thepurpose in the jack, and its rear portion is turnedup and has itsextremity covered with leather to form a soft bearing for the at portionof the hammer shank near the'butt. The said lever has applied between itand the arm It, a spring which exerts a sullicient upward pressureagainst it to raise the hammer as will be presently described. Thedistance to which the said spring is allowed to force the lever upward.vis regulated by a hooked screw 7c, which screws into the arm z.

The operation of the action is as follows: Then the hammer is at rest asshown in Fig. l, the point of the jack is held in the notch of thehammer-butt by the spring (I. and the rear extremity of the lever C. isclose to the butt and exerts no considerable upward pressure upon thehammer shank. Yhen the key is' struck in playing, the jack acts in thenotch in the hammer-butt in the usual manner and then is caused toescape by the arm e, being arrested by the regulating screw G. rlhehammer in its fall after striking the string with any considerable forcefalls far enough to be caught by the back check, and the momentum of itsrecoil and fall acting on the repeating lever C. overcomes the springy', and causes the said lever to be depressed relatively to the jack asshown in black outline. in F Q; but as soon as the player permits thefront end of the key to rise a very short distance the hammer isliberated by the back check and the spring y', raises the repeatinglever C. and causes the latter to lift up the hammer nearer to thestring in the manner shown in red outline in Fig. and brings the notchin the hammer-buttI high enough for the point of the jack to fall intoit far enough to enable the blow to be repeated. Vhen the key is struckvery softly by the player, the force of the recoil of the hammer willnot be sutlicient to carry it down to the back check butI the hammerwill be arrested by the repeating lever very near the string, and henceafter a light as after a heavy blow the repeat can be effected bypermitting the key to rise a very short distance. The screw lo, permitsthe adjustment of the repeating lever to make it raise the hammer higheror not so high.

Instead of constructing the repeating lever and jack so that the leverpasses through a slot in the jack, as described, they may be soconstructed that the jack passes through a slot in the lever, but theconstruction described is perhaps preferable.

The repeating lever applied as above described permits the key with itsattached parts to be withdrawn from the action without ditliculty, forby lifting the hammer by the hand the jack is allowed to be thrownforward by the spring d, past the butt a, and then all obstacle to thetaking out of the key is removed.

H. STEINVAY, JR.

lVitnesses M. M. LIVINGSTON, JAMES LAIRD.

